A woman waves a European Union flag while standing at the premises of the parliament building during a rally in front of the parliament building calling on the government to clinch a deal with its international creditors and secure Greece's future in the Eurozone, in Athens, Greece, June 22, 2015 (Reuters / Yiannis Liakos) / Reuters

Thousands have gathered in front of the Greek Parliament in support of Athens’s place in the eurozone, calling for a debt agreement to be reached as EU leaders and international creditors race against time to avert the country’s looming default.

On Monday demonstrators waving Greek and EU flags filled the
square in front of the parliament building, draped at the base
with a sky-blue-white. Police guarded the steps of the parliament
preventing the protesters to climb the steps.

“It's been a long time that we've been in negotiations and I
feel we've been sending mixed signals to the world,” said
30-year-old project manager Panagiota Kaltsa protesting at the
rally, as quoted by Reuters.

“It's time for Greeks to make clear that Greece wants to stay
in the euro and that a negotiated solution should be found
soon.”

People came out on the streets fearing the Greek exit from the
Eurozone because of Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras’ harsh stance
towards EU-imposed austerity policy.

“I strongly believe Greece should stay in the euro. The game
this government is playing has done nothing but damage to the
country,” said Alex Petropoulos, a 21-year-old student.
“What we need is stability.”

Averting ‘chaotic and uncontrollable Grexident’

As Tsipras and his cabinet negotiate new proposals for a solution
to the debt crisis the deadline for the country’s payment looms.

Tsipras has presented new proposals for a “mutually
beneficial deal.” However, EU officials have not appeared
thrilled about them. New reform proposals by Athens are deep and
comprehensive, but they require further analysis, according to
Dutch Finance Minister and Eurogroup President Jeroen
Dijsselbloem. At the same time EU Tax Commissioner Pierre
Moscovici said Greece and its lenders still have a lot of work to
do before striking a deal.

Athens and the Troika of international lenders – the IMF, the ECB
and European Commission – are gridlocked in negotiations over its
€240 billion ($272 billion) debt. The current total Greek debt
stands at €316 billion ($358 billion).

Tsipras is in Brussels for the extraordinary EU summit to agree
on Athens’ debt deal and its status in the bloc. The European
Council President Donald Tusk, who called the Monday summit, said
that the new Greek proposals to the three institutions are a
positive step, according to the “initial assessment.”

“I called this summit to put an end to the dangers of
uncertainty and to avoid the worst case scenario, which means
chaotic and uncontrollable Grexident,” Tusk said.

The summit has managed to “inject new dynamism into the
negotiations that have been stalled for too long” while the
sides have more or less reached the “understanding of
possibilities and limits” in the negotiations, Tusk added.

According to most officials, an agreement could be reached by the
end of the week, with Tusk announcing that some results may be
presented as early as Thursday morning.